International Conference, March 9th and 10th, 2007.

Universit=E9 Michel de Montaigne - Bordeaux III

Call for papers

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Adventure(s)

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Less than an object or a precise event, adventure is mainly a =
representation, an ontological or formal ideal, an aspiration or a =
method, that privileges chance, imminence, nomadism.

We will thus explore the Adventure Novel as a genre, in particular the =
Golden Age of Adventure, from 1890 to 1920, when the figure of the =
adventurer, around his three principal historic activities, namely =
buccaneering, intrigue and the war, developed of a whole mystique of =
adventure, and brought about an attempt at representing the limits of =
the universe - Conrad and his "blank spaces", Stevenson, Kipling, Doyle =
seem to be here, among others, major references, as much as their =
post-colonial rewritings. Yet, for these authors as well as their modern =
literary heirs, "Adventure is the form of fiction rather than its =
contents" (Jacques Rivi=E8re, Le roman d'aventure, Paris: Editions des =
Syrtes, 2000 (1913)), and Adventure thus becomes a matter of formal =
threshold, a theoretical liminal space: it calls for a nomadic, =
wandering form, for a random textual course, as well as it expresses =
fascination for imminence. It thus refers to all kinds of "textual =
adventures", in which writing does not so much amount to signifying, but =
to discovering, to mapping new formal grounds.

As far as the always large area of "civilisation" is concerned, one will =
focus on the modern meaning of the word ("an enterprise or performance =
involving the uncertain or unknown"), not forgetting the Latin etymology =
which refers to "things happening" and by extension, to chance and =
fortune. Those adventures which have shaped Britain over the centuries =
might therefore be studied - such as Francis Drake's unique fate as a =
pirate and adventurer ; the imperial adventure ; the "European =
adventure".

One will also think about the more intellectual adventures which have =
deeply transformed the worlds of philosophy, science and arts in Great =
Britain: in that sense, figures like Isaac Newton, Edmund Burke or the =
painter Francis Bacon, to name but a few, are indeed adventurers, whose =
quests partake of this risky and fruitful encounter with new, unknown =
and dangerous territories.

In any case, beyond the mere description of such "adventures", one will =
try to define the moral implications of this notion - by which =
mechanisms a singular, individual and spectacular endeavour is turned =
into an adventure, and how do national imaginary projections give it the =
necessary universal echo.

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Deadline for proposals: November 30th, 2006.=20

Contact:=20

hfourtina_at_wanadoo.fr for linguistics and psychoanalysis

nathalie.jaeck_at_u-bordeaux3.fr for literature

joel-richard_at_club-internet.fr for civilisation.

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Received on Tue Nov 28 2006 - 17:55:40 EST